Dongguan City authorities in Guangdong Province has revealed that the children below the age of 16 had been found working in a company that made Olympic-licensed products, and that their main activity had been packing notebooks.
The government's investigation shows that Lekit Stationery Co. hired eight students under the age of 16 from January 19 to February 10 during their school holidays, paying them 32 yuan (US$4) for a 12-hour day and employed them for six days a week.
Six of the students were middle-school students and two were primary school students. The city government has pledged to 'rectify' the situation, without specifying whether the children would receive compensation or whether the company would be fined. The students told investigators they were not involved in producing Olympic souvenirs but in packing notebooks ahead of sales sale.
The Organizing Committee for the Beijing Olympic Games (BOCOG) has summoned Lekit and three other manufacturers to face charges that they breached labor laws in manufacturing Olympic goods. Lu Chuan, a spokesman for BOCOG, revealed that the investigation's findings would swiftly be revealed.
Dongguan's labor watchdog said even if the students had not making Olympic souvenirs, Lekit was still guilty of violating Chinese laws and regulations for underpaying the students.
The investigation further uncovered that 352 of its 772 employees had not signed labor contracts and were being underpaid, a situation that must be resolved before June 18, ordered the watchdog.
(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2007)
